High-voltage transistor with buried conduction layer

ABSTRACT

A lateral, high-voltage, FET having a low on-resistance and a buried conduction layer comprises a P-type buried layer region within an N-well formed in a P-type substrate. The P-type buried layer region is connected to a drain electrode by a first P-type drain diffusion region that is disposed in the N-well region. The P-type buried layer region is also connected to a second P-type drain diffusion region that extends down from the surface at one end of the PMOS gate region. A P-type source diffusion region, which connects to the source electrode, defines the other end of the gate region.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/245,029, filed Feb. 5, 1999, of Rumennik et al., which application isassigned to the assignee of the present application and is hereinincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to high voltage field-effecttransistor structures fabricated in silicon substrates.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Lateral, high-voltage, field-effect transistors (HVFETs) have beenfabricated using an insulated gate field-effect transistor (IGFET)placed in series with a high-voltage junction field-effect transistor(JFET). The IGFET is used to control the “on” state current in thedevice and the JFET is used to support high-voltage in the “off” state.This HVFET structure can be switched at high voltages, has a lowon-state resistance, and has insulated-gate control. In addition, it mayadvantageously be fabricated near low voltage logic transistors on asingle integrated circuit chip.

Lateral HVFETs are commonly fabricated in accordance with the ReducedSurface Field (RESURF) principle. The RESURF principle, however,mandates that the charge in the extended drain region, which serves asthe channel of a lateral JFET, be carefully controlled to obtain highbreakdown voltage. To keep the maximum electric field below the criticalfield at which avalanche breakdown occurs the amount of charge in theJFET channel is typically limited to a maximum of about 1×10¹² cm⁻².When the HVFET is in the “on” state, the resistance of the JFET channelconstitutes a large portion of the on-state resistance of the HVFET.Therefore, the limitation on the maximum charge in the JFET channel alsosets the minimum specific on-resistance of the device.

A HVFET having an extended drain region with a top layer of aconductivity type opposite that of the extended drain region isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,075. The '075 patent teaches that thetop layer nearly doubles the charge in the conducting layer, with acommensurate reduction in device on-resistance. This top layer alsohelps to deplete the JFET conduction region when the extended drain issupporting a high voltage.

Further extending this concept, U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,901 teachesutilizing the opposite conductivity type top layer as the conductingportion of the JFET in a complementary high-voltage transistor. Onedrawback, however, is that construction of this complementary devicerequires additional processing steps to achieve high-voltage capability.Additionally, the on-resistance of the complementary device is limitedby the charge requirement for the top region (e.g., about 1×10¹² cm⁻²).Another difficulty is that the top layer is often formed prior tooxidation of the silicon surface, which introduces additional processvariation.

To further increase the total charge in the conducting region of theJFET and reduce on-resistance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,082 teaches a HVFETstructure in which two JFET channels are arranged in parallel. A triplediffusion process is disclosed, in which three separate implant anddiffusion steps are required to form a HVFET having an N-type conductingtop layer, a P-type middle layer, and an N-type conducting bottom layer.The multiple layers of alternating conductivity types are fabricated byimplanting, and then diffusing, dopants into the semiconductorsubstrate. The '082 patent also describes a complementary high-voltagetransistor (i.e., a P-channel device) that is formed by adding anadditional layer to the three-layer extended drift region.

One shortcoming of this prior art approach is that each successive layeris required to have a surface concentration that is higher than thepreceding layer, in order to fully compensate and change theconductivity type of the corresponding region. Diffusion of dopants fromthe surface makes it very difficult to maintain adequate charge balanceamong the layers. In addition, the heavily doped P-N junction betweenthe buried layer and drain diffusion region degrades the breakdownvoltage of the device. The concentrations also tend to degrade themobility of free carriers in each layer, thereby compromising theon-resistance of the HVFET. The additional layer required for making thecomplementary device also complicates the manufacturing process.

A p-channel MOS device design that is compatible with a generic processfor manufacturing complementary CMOS devices is disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 5,894,154.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and notlimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of one embodiment of ahigh-voltage, field-effect transistor (HVFET) device structure inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of another embodiment of a HVFETfabricated in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of complementary HVFETs fabricatedon the same substrate in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A high-voltage field-effect transistor is described. The HVFET has a lowspecific on-state resistance, and can be easily integrated with acomplementary lateral HVFET on the same chip along with low voltagelogic devices. In the following description, numerous specific detailsare set forth, such as material types, doping levels, structuralfeatures, processing steps, etc., in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. Practitioners having ordinaryskill in the semiconductor arts will understand that the invention maybe practiced without many of these details. In other instances,well-known elements, techniques, and processing steps have not beendescribed in detail to avoid obscuring the invention.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a p-channel HVFET devicestructure in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.(It should also be understood that the elements in the figures arerepresentational, and are not drawn to scale in the interest ofclarity.) An N-channel transistor may be realized by utilizing theopposite conductivity types for all of the illustrated diffusionregions. The device of FIG. 1 includes an insulated-gate, field-effecttransistor (IGFET) having a gate 22 (comprised, for example, ofpolysilicon), an gate insulating layer 30, comprised of silicon dioxideor another appropriate dielectric insulating material, and an underlyingN-type well region 12 disposed in a lightly-doped P-type substrateregion 10. The area of n-type well region 12 directly beneath gate 22comprises the IGFET channel region 31 of the transistor. In thisembodiment, the gate region is a metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS), andthe IGFET is a PMOS transistor.

Channel region 31 is defined at one end by P+ source diffusion region 19and at the other end by P-type diffusion region 16, which extends downfrom the substrate surface of N-well 12. A lateral high-voltagep-channel FET is formed by the series connection of the PMOS device anda P-type JFET transistor formed by high-energy implantation of a P-typedopant (e.g., boron) into N-well region 12. This high-energyimplantation forms P-type buried layer 14, which is connected to andp-type diffusion region 16. Buried layer 14 comprises the conductingportion of the extended drain of the P-type JFET device. The charge inP-type buried region 14 is approximately 2×10¹² cm⁻² in this embodiment,resulting in an on-resistance that is about 50% lower that traditionaldevices.

Practitioners in the art will appreciate that the doping in P-typediffusion region 16 is chosen so that this region can be fully depletedat a relatively low voltage (<100V) in the off state. This insures thatregion 16 does not interfere with the ability of the transistor tosupport high voltage (˜700V) in the off state.

A source electrode 29 provides an electrical connection to P+ sourcediffusion region 19. Similarly, a drain electrode 28 connects to a P+drain diffusion region 18. Drain diffusion region 18 and sourcediffusion region 19 may be formed using the same implant steps.Electrical connection between drain diffusion region 18 and buried layer14 is established via P-type diffusion region 17. It is understood thatregion 17 may be formed simultaneous with P-type diffusion region 16using the same processing steps. Alternatively, P+ drain diffusionregion 18 may be formed to extend vertically from the substrate surfacedown to P-type buried layer 14.

Respective source and drain electrodes 29 and 28 may comprise a numberof widely used metals or metal alloys. Note that source electrode 29 isshown extending over, and insulated from, gate 22 where it functions asa field plate. Similarly, drain electrode 28 extends over polysiliconfield plate member 23, disposed above and adjacent to drain diffusionregion 18. Field plating acts to reduce the surface electric field andincrease the effective radius for depletion of the substrate, therebyincreasing the breakdown voltage of the transistor.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a N+ diffusion region 20 is disposedadjacent to P+ source diffusion region 19. Diffusion region 20 providesgood electrical connection to N-well region 12 and thus reducessusceptibility of the device to parasitic bipolar effects.

When the P-channel HVFET of FIG. 1 is in the on-state, current flowsfrom the source diffusion region 19 through the IGFET channel region 31and then through P-type regions 16, 14, and 17 to P+ drain diffusionregion 18. As discussed above, the charge in P-type buried region 14 isapproximately twice as high than that of a conventional P-channeldevice. Thus, the resistance of the extended drain region is reduced toabout ½ that of a conventional device.

In the off state, P-diffusion region 16, P-type buried layer region 14,and N-well region 12 are mutually depleted of free carriers.

An important advantage of the device structure shown in FIG. 1 is thatit can be constructed using the same process used to fabricate acomplementary, high-voltage, N-channel FET. For instance, such a processis set forth in FIGS. 11a-11 i and the associated description of theincorporated Rumennik et al. patent application. Significantly, noadditional processing complexity is introduced since the same maskinglayers may be used for both devices, other than the addition of P-typeregion 16.

In accordance with the aforementioned process for fabricating anN-channel HVFET, building a complementary device on the same siliconsubstrate can be accomplished by segregating the respective N-wellregions associated with the P-channel and N-channel devices. The maskinglayer used to form P-type buried layer region 14 of the P-channel devicecan be used to simultaneously form the buried layer region of theN-channel device structure. In the N-channel device, this P-type buriedlayer divides the single conductive N-well into parallel conductivedrift regions of the JFET transistor. Added in parallel, each conductiveregion reduces the on-resistance of the HVFET structure.

By way of example, FIG. 3 illustrates high-voltage PMOS and NMOStransistors fabricated adjacent to one another on the same P-typesubstrate 10. Note that the same processing steps used to form N-well 12of the PMOS device may also be used to fabricate N-Well 52 of the NMOSdevice. Similarly, buried layer 14 of the PMOS device and buried layer74 of the NMOS device may be formed using the same steps. Other regionsof the PMOS and NMOS devices that can be formed with the same processingsteps include P+ regions 19 and 69, N+ regions 20 and 70, and gate oxideregions 30 and 80, respectively.

P-type diffusion region 16 of FIG. 1, for example, may be formed eitherbefore or after the implantation step that forms the P-type buried layerregions of the N-channel and P-channel devices. By way of example,diffusion region 16 may be formed by implantation of boron into thesubstrate following formation of N-well 12. If the process optionallyincludes steps for forming a field oxide layer, P-type diffusion region16 may be formed in N-well 12 either prior to field oxide growth, orafterward, utilizing conventional processing techniques.

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the present invention,which comprises a plurality of vertically stacked P-type buried layerregions 14 a-14 c disposed in N-well region 12. In a typical processingsequence, a single implant mask is used to define all of the buriedlayers. High-energy implantation is then used to form buried layerregion 14 a, 14 b, ,and 14 c. The device structure of FIG. 2 includes aP-type diffusion region 26, which defines one end of channel 31.Diffusion region 26 extends down from the substrate surface toelectrically connect with each of buried layer regions 14 a-14 c.Similarly, P-type diffusion region 27 extends vertically down from P+drain diffusion region 18 to connect with each of buried layer regions14 a-14 c. Instead of forming a separate P-type region 27, theconnection to each of buried layer regions 14 beneath drain diffusionregion 18 may be achieved by simply extending P+ drain diffusion region18 vertically down from the substrate surface to a depth sufficient toconnect with buried layer regions 14 a-14 c.

Thus, the spaced-apart P-type buried layer regions 14 in the HVFET ofFIG. 2 provide parallel conduction paths. By controlling the charge ineach of the buried layer regions 14 the ability of the P-channel deviceto support high voltage in not compromised. Moreover, in accordance withthe above teachings, each additional conducting layer contributes anadditional 2×10¹² cm⁻² of charge to further lower the on-resistance ofthe device.

I claim:
 1. A high-voltage field-effect transistor (HVFET) comprising: asubstrate of a first conductivity type; a well region of a secondconductivity type, opposite to the first conductivity type, disposed inthe substrate; a source diffusion region of the first conductivity typedisposed in the N-well region; a first drain diffusion region of thefirst conductivity type disposed in the N-well region spaced-apart fromthe source diffusion region, a channel region being defined in the wellregion between the source diffusion region and the first drain diffusionregion; a second drain diffusion region of the first conductivity typedisposed in the well region spaced-apart from the first drain diffusionregion; a buried layer region of the first conductivity type disposedwithin the well region, extending laterally from beneath the first draindiffusion region to beneath the second drain diffusion region, theburied layer region being connected to both the first and second P-typedrain diffusion regions such that current flows laterally through theburied layer region when the HVFET is in an on-state; and an insulatedgate formed over the channel region.
 2. The HVFET according to claim 1further comprising: a source electrode connected to the source diffusionregion; and a drain electrode connected to the second drain diffusionregion.
 3. The HVFET according to claim 2 further comprising: adiffusion region of the second conductivity type disposed in the wellregion adjacent the source diffusion region, the diffusion region beingconnected to the source electrode.
 4. The HVFET according to claim 2wherein the first conductivity type is P-type and the secondconductivity type is N-type, and the second drain diffusion regioncomprises: a P+ diffusion region connected to the drain electrode; andan additional P-type diffusion region that extends from the P+ diffusionregion to the buried layer region.
 5. The HVFET according to claim 2wherein the source and drain electrodes each comprise laterally extendedportions that function as field plates.
 6. The HVFET according to claim5 further comprising a drain field plate member disposed adjacent to andinsulated from the second drain diffusion region, the drain field platemember also being disposed beneath and insulated from the laterallyextended portion of the drain electrode.
 7. The HVFET according to claim1 wherein the buried layer region comprises a plurality of buriedlayers.
 8. The HVFET according to claim 7 wherein the first draindiffusion region extends vertically in the well region to connect toeach of the plurality of buried layers.
 9. The HVFET according to claim8 wherein the second drain diffusion region extends vertically in thewell region to connect to each of the plurality of buried layers. 10.The HVFET according to claim 1 wherein the first drain diffusion regionhas a first surface that adjoins a surface of the substrate.
 11. TheHVFET according to claim 1 wherein the first conductivity type is N-typeand the second conductivity type is P-type.
 12. The HVFET according toclaim 1 wherein the first drain diffusion region is depleted at arelatively low voltage.
 13. A high-voltage field-effect transistor(HVFET) comprising: a substrate of a first conductivity type; a wellregion of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivitytype, the well region being disposed in the substrate; a sourcediffusion region of the first conductivity type disposed in the wellregion; a first drain diffusion region of the first conductivity typedisposed in the well region laterally spaced-apart from the sourcediffusion region; a second drain diffusion region of the firstconductivity type disposed in the well between the first drain diffusionregion and the source diffusion region, a channel region being definedin the well region between the source diffusion region and the seconddrain diffusion region; a plurality of parallel, spaced-apart buriedlayers of the first conductivity type disposed within the well region,the buried layers extending laterally from beneath the first draindiffusion region to beneath the second drain diffusion region, the firstand second drain diffusion regions extending vertically in the wellregion to connect to each of the buried layers such that current flowslaterally through each of the buried layers when the HVFET is in anon-state; and an insulated gate formed over the channel region.
 14. TheHVFET according to claim 13 further comprising: a source electrodeconnected to the source diffusion region; and a drain electrodeconnected to the first drain diffusion region.
 15. The HVFET accordingto claim 14 further comprising: a diffusion region of the secondconductivity type disposed in the well region adjacent the sourcediffusion region, the diffusion region being connected to the sourceelectrode.
 16. The HVFET according to claim 14 the first conductivitytype is P-type and the second conductivity type is N-type, and the firstdrain diffusion region comprises: a P+ diffusion region connected to thedrain electrode; and an additional P-type diffusion region thatvertically extends down from the P+ diffusion region to each of theburied layers.
 17. The HVFET according to claim 14 wherein the sourceand drain electrodes each comprise laterally extended portions thatfunction as field plates.
 18. The HVFET according to claim 17 furthercomprising a drain field plate member disposed adjacent to and insulatedfrom the first drain diffusion region, the drain field plate member alsobeing disposed beneath and insulated from the laterally extended portionof the drain electrode.
 19. The HVFET according to claim 13 wherein eachof the buried layers are fully depleted at a relatively low voltage whenthe HVFET is in an off-state.
 20. The HVFET according to claim 14wherein the first drain diffusion region comprises a diffusion regionthat contacts the drain electrode and extends vertically down in thewell region to connect with each of the of buried layers.
 21. The HVFETaccording to claim 13 wherein the second drain diffusion region has afirst surface that adjoins a surface of the substrate.
 22. The HVFETaccording to claim 13 wherein the first conductivity type is N-type andthe second conductivity type is P-type.